no title* - aint that creative?
by tinker
Summary: Um, a couple of agents have been sent out to get Seattle under control, and after checking Logan out cause they dunno where to start, they go after Eyes Only, getting them a whole lot more than they bargained for. M/L of course :D, Logan is in the chair,


Max began riding home from Crash, grinning to herself. A couple of obnoxious suckers  
had challenged her to a game of pool - bets on, of course. And Sketchy had gotten drunk, and  
tried to nail a few new bike tricks to impress this girl...and then tried to hit on her...Max grinned.  
Turned out the chick played for Cindy's team, to Cindy and 'Yasette''s delight. The two got  
along like a house on fire, to Sketchy's increasing glumness. Times like these she felt like a  
normal girl.  
Suddenly, she got the sense that someone was watching her. She groaned inwardly,  
and tacked on an 'almost' to her last thought. Here came the reality check. She suddenly  
swerved the bike around a corner, speeding up as she twisted through alleys and backstreets.  
For awhile, she could hear hear another bike in pursuit. But soon the sound got fainter and  
fainter, until she was sure she had lost her pursuer in the 'maze'. Turning towards her building,  
she set off for home again, wishing her pursuer enough bad luck to keep them  
trapped in the 'maze' till morning.  
Max glanced at the address on the package. Hmmm, near Logan's neighbourhood.  
Maybe I can drop in and see what he thinks about this guy following me around. She  
delivered the packaged quickly, and made her way to Foggle Towers. She began to pick the  
lock.  
Logan had had a fairly normal morning. At least, until those freak FBI agents had  
showed up, and began asking him general questions about his opinions, lifestyle...it was all  
fairly innocuous but he was sure they were leading up to something. Whether they were after  
a rogue X-5, Eyes Only, or a just investigating a generally slippery guy he wasn't sure. He'd  
just gotten away for a few minutes, ostensibly getting drinks.  
Agents Tricia and Rob of the FBI exchanged looks. They had arrived to question  
this man fifteen minutes ago, and they still weren't sure what they were looking for. The man  
had a strange record. It seemed that all his files just vanished, usually moments after  
creation. And he'd proved very slippery. But there was not even the slightest suggestion he  
was doing something illegal. And now, no guards, open apartment, apparently no restrictions  
on them. Just a normal-seeming rich guy, for post-pulse times, anyway. Either he was a very  
good actor, or he was just a normal guy. Suddenly Rob heard a familiar sound, and  
whirled around, drawing his gun. It was the sound of a lock being picked.  
Max opened the door to find a strange man and woman standing in Logan's  
apartment...both pointing guns at her head. Max sighed, trying to make it sound like it was  
just bravado, allowing herself to wonder for just a second was they would do if she disarmed  
them. She added a note of fear to her voice as she called out "Knock knock, Logan! Mind  
asking your guests to drop their guns?" When Logan called out "Hey Max." Coming out of  
the kitchen, he added pointedly, "You can drop the guns. Max is a friend."   
As Tricia and Rob dropped their guns, Max studied their faces, thinking wryly, See?  
Perfectly harmless...Genetically engineered killing machine. She had noticed their Ids. They  
were in a special group of the FBI - at Manticore, they had been trained to recognise these  
people. According to Lydecker, they were the type to take an interest in Manticore  
'products'. Dangerous. As un-a-potential-ally as a competitor of Manticore. These two were  
supposed to be some of the best. So why were they questioning Logan? It could only be one  
of two things. Eyes Only...or Manticore.  
"This a bad time?" Max asked, glancing from Logan to the two agents.  
"Excuse us a moment?" Logan said, and Tricia and Rob nodded.   
Max and Logan went into the kitchen and closed the door. "What do they want?" Logan  
scratched his head. "I wish I knew. You know who they are?" Max nodded, keeping her  
voice soft.  
"Tricia McMillan, Rob Mckenna. Special branch of the FBI, deals with the weird and the  
wonderful. Best in the department."  
"But not the best."  
"I think the X-7's hold the title for that - in everything. Except cooking." She winked. "That  
title is yours. Look, I was swinging by 'cause someone's following me around a bit, but  
they're a complete amateur. I'll come by later, if you're not busy."  
"Sure, fine. I'll see what I can shake loose on that guy. You sure you'll be okay?"  
"Of course, Logan." She grimaced. "How I'm built. Thanks, anyway - and be careful of those  
two. Seriously, the only person that they have gone to work on and not busted is Zack.  
Possibly the only time Lydecker was glad we were so elusive." Logan grinned.   
"Trust Zack."  
"So, see you later?"   
"See you." Max said, and left the kitchen, exiting the apartment without so much as glancing  
at Tricia or Rob, only just resisting the urge to trip Rob on her way out.   
"Who was that?" asked Tricia, eyes searching Logan's for a trace of emotion, some  
indication of his feelings for the woman. His face was devoid of emotion, and he returned her  
gaze squarely. Inwardly, he groaned. Here we go again. He plastered an entirely fake smile  
on his face and answered in a feigned enthusiatic tone, "Her name is Max. She's a friend."  
Tricia grimaced inwardly. The man did know what he was doing, answering these questions  
evasively. He'd screened all the aspects of his personal life that he could, without looking  
suspicious, and it appeared that they weren't going to find out much about this mysterious  
'Max', either.   
According to the bag, she works at 'Jam Pony'. Maybe we can check her out. Tricia read in a  
quick glance at the paper Rob was taking notes on, after he nudged her lightly. She  
nodded slightly, and they resumed questioning Logan.   
An hour later, they left, knowing little more than they had when they started. Tricia sighed.  
The one time Rob had attempted to put a little pressure on...  
"You wouldn't want people thinking you had something to hide, would you, Mr. Cale?"  
Logan had looked at Rob calmly, but Tricia noticed his eyes were hard as rock.   
"Seeing as they have an unfortunate habit of disappearing mysteriously, I don't think anyone  
would want to look as if they had something to hide."  
And every time Tricia opened her mouth to try the same thing, the guy kept talking. What did  
he have, a bloody sixth sense? Oh well. Next stop, Jam Pony.   
"Going to this Jam Pony place now?" She asked.  
"May as well." Rob paused. "I have no idea what that guy's up to. I mean, slippery as hell,  
but he doesn't exactly strike me as someone who's being doing business with some shady  
characters. Or being one. He isn't aggressive; just defensive." He shook his head. "In fact, I  
don't know what to make of him." (A/N - Yeah, I noticed there aren't all that many other rich  
guys trying to save the world around in post-pulse America)  
"He's a mystery."  
"And that's what we uncover, right?"  
"Oh yeah." Tricia grinned.  
"What do you think about the girl?"  
"I'm really not sure. Hard person to read. I got the vaguest sense she recognised us, though."  
She shrugged. "Don't ask me to rationalise it."  
"I'm sure the fear wasn't faked, if we're going to analyse her every move." They smiled,  
Tricia appreciating her friend and partner's obscure humour. "So you think she recognised  
us?"  
"I'm really not sure. I can't think how or anything else, but I still got this sense...she might  
have. I don't know."   
"Well, it is completely illogical, but don't write anything off yet. What about the whole  
picking the lock bit?"  
"I really don't know. Some people just pick up these skills along the way, you know, could  
just be a quirk. Or, she could be a thief." They pulled up outside Jam Pony. "Lovely place. I  
was going to suggest she might do a few things a little more up-market, in several senses of  
the word, but actually, by the look of this place, I seriously doubt it." Rob commented.  
"Might be a cover." Tricia suggested, pausing outside the door.  
"Unfortunately, by the look of the police in this city, I don't think anyone would bother this  
much."  
"True." They entered the building, and Tricia glanced around for Max. She couldn't see her  
anywhere, but that didn't mean she wasn't there. They wandered up to a counter where a  
middle-aged man was standing, yelling at one of the employees.   
"Cindy! Hot run to 56 Tyson!"   
"Aiight, aiight Normal." A dark-skinned woman walked her bike over to the counter, took a  
package, and slid onto the bike, pedalling off with the ease of practice. The man turned to  
Rob and Tricia.   
"What do you want?" Blunt enough, Rob thought.   
"Woman named Max works for you?"  
"What's it to you?"  
"Where would she be?" The man jerked his thumb towards a small, dirty area with some  
lockers, tables and chairs. Max, Sketchy, Natalie and Herbal were sitting at one of the tables,  
talking. Max glanced up. She had seen the agents the moment they walked in the door, but  
there was no need to let them know that. Evidently Logan had not told them what they  
wanted to know, so now they were questioning her. She got up and walked over to them.  
"What do you want?" Max's tone wasn't openly aggressive, but it wasn't exactly welcoming.  
Does everyone around here say the same thing? Tricia wondered. Then again, considering  
the neighbourhood, it's probably the appropriate thing to say to anyone who happens to  
come up to you.  
"Just to ask you a few questions. If you'd come this way?" Max followed them to an out-of-  
the-way corner, arms crossed.   
"So I'm a lead?" She asked. Thrown off for a moment, Rob answered, "You could say  
that." Not for long, Max thought sardonically.  
"How long have you known Mr. Cale?"  
"We met making...an exchange of sorts." Bast for an empty space on a stand. Seems fair  
from where I'm standing. The woman wrote something down, while the man asked   
"How long have you known him?" Max fed them some bull. It continued this way - and she  
was sure they knew at least a few of her answers had been made up in the split second before  
she answered - until Rob asked "Do you think he tells you everything?" Tricia watched  
her face carefully. No change in expression - not even a flicker.  
"Yes, I do. And now that we've finished with the innocent questions, I think I should tell you  
I'm not answering any more. Logan will tell you what you need to know, unless he feels it's  
not, frankly, any of your business. If he won't tell you, I'm definitely not going to."  
  
"You think your friend has something to hide?" Tricia tried the same line on her. She didn't  
intercept it - either she didn't have Logan's sixth sense, or she felt she didn't need to. Tricia  
decided she was definitely more chilled by the second prospect. Max met her eyes levelly.  
"I think that I am his friend. Now can you tell me what you would do if some revved-up cops  
have been questioning a friend of yours and then came to grill you, implying he had  
something big to hide?" Max was nearly nose-to-nose with Tricia - although she was several  
inches taller than her. "You'd be a bit scared. You'd be worried about your friend.   
And the last thing you would do was 'fess up about every time your mate had done  
something slightly suspicious!" Max turned and left, feeling she'd played her part fairly well.  
Tricia bit her lip. Everyone around this guy that seemed to know him wasn't spilling a word.  
She had a feeling Max knew more than she was letting on, but she was willing to bet that she  
really was worried, and if anything was up with Logan, she didn't know much about it. Most  
of that last speech had been true, she was sure, even if she might have played it up slightly to  
try to put them off. Oh well. They could check her file (they had a last name from her boss -  
Guevara), look at her past . See what her weaknesses were.  
  
~*~*~*Back at the City Police Station*~*~*~  
"What do you mean, there is no file?! Everyone has a file!" Rob was decidedly angry. So  
was Tricia, for that matter. One resource they could always count on was people's files.  
Sure, on the regular police network, heaps of files got deleted, from those of street thugs to  
drug barons. But not on the FBI network. Apart from the fact that it was supposed to be truly  
impenetrable to hackers, access was limited to a select few, and several complex programs  
prevented the deleting of any profiles. There was that kid...Tricia shook herself. You are  
*not* going to think about that again. The kid had been picked up by the local station - he  
had eaten heavily poisoned food, and only passed out. There had been enough toxins in there  
to kill a herd of elephants, but the kid only passed out, and he was only twelve. He had had  
no file, and escaped within twenty-four hours. Tricia and Rob had been on the case,  
turning up a multitude of dead ends, until they had suddenly been pulled out for no apparent  
reason, and the case closed. She pulled herself back to the present. The officer was speaking.  
"Well, actually, I think they just proved you wrong." He said, in response to Rob's  
statement, and added, glancing around, "Look, Jamie mentioned he found someone with no  
file - anywhere - last week. He was going to find out what he could and create a file. I'll ask  
him if it could be your girl." He turned and headed over to another officer, talking with him  
for a moment before walking back with him to Rob and Tricia.   
'Jamie' said "Girl I'm after was about 5"10, young, dark hair, good-looking. Looks Hispanic.  
This sound familiar to you?" Rob nodded. Finally, a lead on this Max. I've almost  
forgotten about Logan Cale - I think there's just as much reason to concentrate solely on this  
one. Jamie continued "Well, I asked around. I've got a full name, employment, disposition, a  
few friends, age estimate, a picture that isn't particularly good, and that's it. Strangely, I  
can't turn up anything, and I mean anything, about her past - not even a birthday."  
"Address?" Jamie looked slightly embarrassed, and Tricia swore he was squirming.  
"Well, um..no one would give it to me, so I tried trailing her - last night, this morning - but I  
swear, she figured me out somehow, and lost me."  
"Both times?" Tricia asked, seeming distinctly unimpressed. Geez, must be an incompetent,  
Rob thought. Tailing one woman - one normal, civilian young woman - should be a piece of  
cake. Oh well. He could take care of that this afternoon. Tricia would be breaking into Logan's  
apartment. Neither liked the idea, but they had to get more information. And trying to get a  
search warrant would be like trying to convince Tocasa to come back from the dead. It would be  
embarassing if she was caught - but she was very good.  
Jamie spoke again.  
"Look, she knew, I'm telling you. She took off for the maze - that's a labyrinth of back streets in  
one of the dangerous parts of town." He shook his head. "If I hadn't known the night's  
password, I would've ended up dead in an alley. And that only loses you the worry of some  
gangs. She got me well and truly lost, all right? I was stuck there for an hour, and I know the  
maze as well as anyone who doesn't live there. Now you don't live in Seattle, even." Tricia and  
Rob's faces clearly showed their contempt for the man, and Jamie gave up. He turned and  
walked away, muttering "Hope she loses you in the maze for a week," arms spread.   
Rob checked his watch. "Want to have lunch?" he asked Tricia. "Yeah. We definitely need to  
talk about where we're going with these two."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*Logan's Apartment*~*~*~*~*~  
~*6pm*~  
Max moved her bishop to take Logan's knight. "Checkmate!" She announced cheerfully. Logan  
looked at the board and frowned. Max stifled a smile. He's so cute when he's puzzled She  
thought. Wait a sec, back up! Cute? No, bad Max. Logan is a business associate. She  
frowned inwardly. That was a bit harsh. OK, a friend. She bit her lip. Friends don't think about  
how much muscle their friends are packin' (thank you Bling) and friends do *not* think about  
their friends' deep blue eyes...she would have been happy to go on about all the things friends  
did not think about all night, but Logan spoke. "You're right." He said, sounding less than  
impressed, but not grumpy. Max grinned.   
"Of course. I'm always right. Now..." Logan grinned back. "Dessert?" "Sounds good!"  
  
~*~*To Rob for a minute*~*~  
Rob Mckenna waited in a cafe across the road from Foggle Towers. Max had gone in a little  
over an hour ago and he was beginning to worry that she lived there. Stupid, he admonished  
himself. Live here and work at Jam Pony? I don't *think* so. He pulled out a pair of specially-  
made devices that worked like binoculars, but were much stronger, and began scanning the  
windows. Thank God it saw through tint. Jackpot. Two people vaguely resembling Mr Cale and  
his 'friend' Max, sitting down playing some kind of board game.  
  
*Back to Logan's*  
"So, what'd those two ask you about?" She paused and continued mischeviously. "What did  
you let slip?" Her last question was teasing, but they both knew there was real meaning behind  
it.  
"I think they were looking for anything suspicious. Matt called after they left; said he thought  
they didn't know anything, but I was proving slippery and they were to investigate all the  
slipperys in Seattle. Guess I'm the lucky first one. He said they didn't even know Eyes Only  
existed yet, but there was a load of suspicious stuff going on in this lovely city and they had to  
get to the bottom of it."  
"What, authorities are actually getting it together?"  
(A/N: All non M/L shippers are courteously warned that they may wish to skip this bit. All M/L  
shippers, don't get excited. Not *that* much happens although I can assure you it will  
eventually)  
"Of course not." Logan snorted in disgust, but Max knew it wasn't aimed at her. "They just want  
to see if they can dig up anything worth selling." He sounded bitter. Max touched his arm, not  
knowning what to say. He looked up, and suddenly she was caught by his deep blue eyes.   
Logan felt her hand on his arm and suddenly felt his whole arm become heated. He looked up  
into her chocolatey brown eyes and saw something he'd never seen there before. Their faces  
drew closer, and at the first touch of their lips, both shivered. Slowly the kiss deepened, and  
Max felt Logan's tongue brush against her lips, seeking entry. She opened her mouth gladly,  
drawing his tongue into her mouth, and exploring his. Max felt Logan's arms slide around her,  
as one of hers tangled itself in his hair and the other pressed into the small of his back.   
With the kind of bad timing that could have caused World War III, the phone rang. Max let out  
a small groan of annoyance. Logan pulled back for only a moment, "Let it ring." he said, before  
kissing her again. The answering machine picked up; it was Matt. "Logan, I heard that those  
agents wanted to 'check you out' tonight. Which means break into your apartment to search it."  
the answering machine blared. Max and Logan pulled back at the same time and sighed. They  
held eye contact for a second before Max said "You better get it." He nodded and picked up.  
"Sorry, Matt." Max snorted softly. "You're sorry... Logan, I'm going to go now..."she said softly.  
He looked up quickly in protest as he spoke to Matt. "I've got to, really. That Rob guy is sitting in  
a cafe across the street. Probably with a pair of those new binocular thingys - hope he enjoyed  
the show." She sounded a little sour at her last few words. "Anyway, if I don't come out, he's  
sure to draw the wrong conclusions. And your 'visitor' is coming, and I shouldn't be here for  
that." She smiled slightly. "Bye."  
Logan let her go. She did have a point...and they both needed to think. He thanked Matt and  
hung up. Well, only one thing for it. He got out the coffee-maker and a gun, and after brewing  
himself a large mug, went to bed with it and a book - plus his gun.   
Max walked out, trying to deal with the emotional rollercoaster she was on. Her head was still  
slightly dizzy from the kiss, and now she had to think about the consequences. Does Logan  
regret it already? Or does he *like* me? The thought sent shivers of pleasure down her spine.  
Don't get your hopes up, thickhead. How could someone like Logan *like* someone like you?  
You're was a genetically enhanced killing machine, for Pete's sake. Against everything he  
stands for. But despite everything she told herself, a grain of hope had take hold. Now, to lose  
Rob. Piece of cake, she thought. He's only a little better than the other guy!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*Logan's Apartment*~*~*~*~*~*~  
~*~*12:30am*~*~  
Tricia dropped in from the skylight, landing lightly on her feet, without a thump. She made her  
way over to the desk...to hear a gun being cocked behind her.   
"Turn around." She recognised Logan's voice, hard and cold. "Well now, what would you be  
doing out here out here at this time of night?" His tone showed he knew exactly what she was  
doing out there at this time of night. When she made no move to answer, he added "How about  
you go now?" He gestured towards the door. "It's open."  
Tricia strode towards the door, and left without a word. She didn't return.  
"Thank you, Matt." were Logan's last thoughts as he went to sleep. Matt would question Tricia  
and Rob the next morning, claiming Logan had complained. Besides, if Matt hadn't called, God  
only knew how Tricia would have found him and Max. God, him and Max. How did she feel now  
about the kiss? Regret it? Think about that in the morning. Right now, it was just too  
complicated. This whole trying-to-stay-awake thing just wasn't working from him.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*The Next Day*~*~*~*~*~*~  
It was twenty minutes before Max had to be at work, and she had summoned up her courage  
and rode over to Logan's on her baby. Picking the lock as per usual, she strode in, finding  
Logan typing away at his desk (as per usual). "Knock, knock." He looked up with a smile.   
"Hey. Lost Rob easily enough?" Max laughed.  
"Piece of cake. He's hardly any better than the first guy. So.." Logan finished off her thought.  
"We going to pretend nothing happened?" Max grinned, trying to mask her nervousness.  
"Let's see...we weren't in a car..."  
"Emotions weren't running high..." Logan added.  
"There weren't even a whole lot of things going on at the time." She finished. Logan steeled  
himself and asked the question he had been asking himself every other sip of coffee.   
"Do you regret it?"   
"Do you regret it?" she asked.  
"I asked first." He pointed out.  
"I asked second."  
"So you answer first, and I answer second." She had her mischevious look.  
"But it's your turn to do something first." He countered, trying to look innocent. She grinned.  
"OK...we both answer at the same time. On three. One. Two. Three." Neither said anything.  
"Okay, let's try it again. One...two...three." "No." Max said. Logan's fear had gotten the better of  
him. Max looked indignant, and angry. "You didn't answer!"   
"Fair's fair." said Logan, still trying to contain his joy at her reply. "I did ask first."   
"Well, now you can answer, lying cheat!" As much as she sounded mock-angry, Max was  
trembling inside. Why wouldn't he answer her?   
"Okay then. I do regret something about last night." His eyes met hers seriously. It was mean,  
but... "Not turning off the phone." Three feelings swept through Max. Relief, love, and ...a  
burning need for revenge. An idea came to her...  
"Um, Logan...there is something else I've been meaning to tell you..." She tried to put as much  
feeling into her voice as possible. "It's not that I regretted it, exactly...but...I met this guy the  
other night at Crash." Struggling to maintain her composure at the sight of Logan's face, she  
added. "I - I really like him, Logan.." Unable to keep it up anymore, she snorted, then giggled,  
and finally burst out laughing.   
Logan realised that she had been after revenge, and struggled not to laugh himself.   
"Not funny." He mock-glared. "Not even mildly amusing." He added imperiously. "Neither was  
telling me you regretted .." she added a note of scorn "Not turning off the phone." "Truce?"  
"Truce." They shook hands.   
"I feel like I'm back at school." Logan laughed. "Year One, making amends." Max's face  
clouded over. "Not really how things went for me...way back when." Logan cursed his own  
stupidity for mentioning his childhood.   
"You going to call in sick?" She looked up and winked. "I told Original Cindy to call me in sick if  
I was over ten minutes late and didn't call. So. We gotta find some dirt on these two."  
"Definitely. Plus, we have to introduce them to Eyes Only."  
"They don't know?"  
"Don't think so. I finished the latest last night, got the info by hacking. While I was waiting up for  
Tricia." They laughed. Logan set the video to 'play' and Max asked, "How do you know that  
they'll see it?"  
"Got Matt to make sure they're in front of a television when it's on. He's going to corner them,  
say I called in about Tricia's late-night visit." Max laughed. "Sounds funny."  
  
~*~*~*~*At the Police HQ*~*~*~*~  
Having finished interrogating Tricia and Rob about Tricia's late-night visit to Logan, and  
indulging his urge to take what would probably be his first and last opportunity to lecture FBI  
agents - at least a little...Matt decided to stall for time, waiting for Logan's video, and talk to  
them about Eyes Only.  
"Anyway, I'm also supposed to brief you on a few situations we've got - and a rather strange  
quirk of Seattle."  
"Let's start with the quirk."  
" 'Kay." Matt shrugged. "Some guy, calls himself Eyes Only." Rob snorted and interrupted  
"What, James Bond?" Matt pasted a smile on his face. Sorry, Logan. Know you don't  
appreciate the jokes.  
"Not quite. We're due for another video soon - he hacks into the local feed, brilliant hacker, or  
so IT say, and exposes one of the city's many crime lords. Usually they turn up dead, more info  
comes up in their trial, their operation's wrecked...you get the idea. Seems it's due to him."  
Tricia smiled bitterly. "But never anyone big, like...I don't know, Tocasa Lumo (a well-known and  
high-up drug dealer, very rich) and never any concrete evidence, right?" Matt's face remained  
blank. "Actually, Tocasa's rumoured to be his next target. We check all the evidence he  
produces, and so far everything's been superbly backed up, plenty of evidence." Suddenly the  
television behind them flicked onto an Eyes Only bulletin.   
"Well, what timing." Matt commented. Rob and Tricia turned to watch the video denouncing  
Tocasa Lumo and announcing his death with interest. As the video ended, Matt summoned up  
a smile. "Well, there you go." His smile turned self-satisfied. "Now Andy owes me twenty  
bucks."  
"Huh?"  
"He thought Eyes Only wasn't big enough to take down Tocasa. Was willing to risk $20 on it."  
"Ah." Tricia nodded as Matt left to collect his $20.  
"So. What do you think this Eyes Only guy's up to?" Tricia asked.  
"I don't know." Rob stroked his chin. "Well, now we know why we're here. Seattle's like a jungle.  
I think he could prove valuable ally, actually, if he is who he says he is. But exposing his identity  
is a very big risk. I get the feeling he's not corrupt, but trying to find out who this guy is, we'll  
have to be careful." Tricia nodded.  
"Not in the usual way, either. We can't do much about tracking the hacks - he must be a bit of a  
computer genius, if none of the best hackers in Seattle can track him down. Or at least, I think  
that's the wrong way to go about it. He can't be doing all his work by hacking."  
"You think we should see if he's ever sent someone in to gather info, and we'd find someone  
who saw it? Like, an employee, or hired thug?"  
"Yeah. We'd go through his list of victims, and question the security and underlings."  
"Slow work, but we have to get an answer eventually. You don't mind giving up on this Cale  
guy?"  
"Hell no. I mean, that guy I'd be prepared to bet, is just an ordinary rich guy having a little fun  
with the network."  
"And the lack of a file on our network?"  
"So he got himself a better hacker." Rob shrugged. "OK. Where would we find a record?"  
"Easy - or should be. There's bound to be somewhere on the net dedicated to this guy."  
"Yeah, probably. Well, come on." Rob stood.  
"Where?" Tricia was confused. He winked.  
"You want to get this done before Christmas, we better get going."  
*~Back at Logan's~*  
Max stood by Logan's shoulder as he tapped into the FBI network.   
"Before they get the dirt on us..." he began, sounding preoccupied...  
"If they get the dirt on us." Max interjected. "I have no intention of breaking tradition. Zack  
evaded them; so will I." Logan grinned and teased "Typical X-5 stubbornness." Max smacked  
him lightly on the shoulder.  
"What I was going to say" he added. "Was that we'll be getting the dirt on them first." He felt  
Max's smile.  
"So I'm breaking in?"  
"Well, I haven't managed to find anyone better yet, you see."  
"I see." She nodded gravely. Twisting her head towards the screen, she asked,  
"What've you got so far?" 


End file.
